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GRINNELL, IA – Jazz musician Damani Phillips, assistant professor of music at Grinnell College, will release a new CD, “The String Theory,” at a Nov. 5 concert on the Grinnell campus. “The String Theory” is a collection composed and/or arranged by Phillips for jazz rhythm section and string quartet.

The Nov. 5 release concert will be performed by Phillips with the Des Moines-based Belin Quartet at 7:30 p.m. in Sebring-Lewis Hall of the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts. Phillips and the Quartet, which includes violin, viola, and cello, will be joined by Jason Danielson on piano, Dave Altemeier on bass, and John Kizlarimut on drum set.

“The use of strings in a jazz context is not a new concept; however, few jazz musicians have taken advantage of the bounty of possibilities that collaborations of this nature offer to the jazz composer,” Phillips said. “The use of strings in many ways has become a lost art in the world of jazz composition.”

Phillips, who joined the Grinnell faculty in 2008 to teach jazz composition, improvisation, jazz history, and musicianship, is an active saxophone performer throughout the United States, England and Japan with artists/groups such as Christian McBride, Terrence Blanchard, Dianne Reeves, Marcus Belgrave, Terrell Stafford, Maceo Parker, Ira Sullivan, The Temptations, Red Holloway, Greg Gisbert, the Lexington (KY) Philharmonic, the Pontiac-Oakland Symphony, the touring Dave Matthews cover band “Crush,” and many others. Phillips released his debut CD "Yaktown Nights" in 2004.

“The String Theory” CD concert, which is free and open to the public, is supported by an Iowa Arts Council mini-grant. Grinnell welcomes the participation of people with disabilities. If accommodations are needed, please contact the event’s sponsoring organization as soon as possible to make a request.